


Boom!

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic [112]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Family Drama, Father-Son Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Prompt Fill, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LJ Comment Fic for Free For All prompt: <i>Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, "And then it exploded."</i></p><p>In which AJ gets in trouble, and keeps a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boom!

“And then it ‘sploded! Boom!” AJ spread his sooty arms for effect.

Rodney was not amused. In fact, he was about as far from amused as it was possible to be. His hands were clenched into fists because he couldn’t be sure if he’d shake his son or squeeze the stuffing out of him.

“What were you doing there?” he asked from between clenched teeth.

AJ finally seemed to realize that his father wasn’t happy. His eyes widened and he dropped his arms.

“Um…”

He was given a momentary reprieve when John came running onto the pier. “Where is he? What happened?”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Rodney stepped in front of AJ and put his hands up. “No coddling, no daddy hugs.”

John looked over Rodney’s shoulder and his eyebrows crawled up into his hairline. “I repeat. What happened?”

“Your son snuck out of school and came here to watch Lt. Pyromaniac detonating explosives.”

“Right.” John squatted down and nudged Rodney out of the way. “Hey, buddy. How’d you know Lt. Cadman was going to be out here today?”

Rodney studied his son’s face closely, and saw the shifty look in his eyes as soon as the question was posed. How did five-year-olds even know how to be shifty?

“I dunno.”

“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” John said. “You could’ve been hurt.”

“I just wanted to see,” AJ said, and his bottom lip started to tremble. In the next second he was wrapped around John like an octopus. How was Rodney supposed to stay mad in the face of that?

John stood up, rubbing AJ’s back. “Where’s Cadman?”

“Infirmary. Superficial burns.”

John nodded, is mouth in a grim line. “Dr. Petrikov was supposed to be assisting.”

Rodney had approved the tests, on John’s recommendation. Cadman was an explosives expert, and she was looking for some local alloys that could be used to lessen their reliance on C4, and maybe find something that could be put together on the fly when things offworld got hostile. Petrikov was a chemist and she’d volunteered to work with Cadman on the project, which included testing out very small samples of possible explosives on the pier.

“Petrikov was supervising, but _someone_ distracted her.” Rodney looked pointedly at the back of AJ’s sooty head.

“Daddy, I should see Dr. Carson.”

“Dr. Carson already had a look at you,” Rodney replied before John could say anything. “And you’re fine. Just dirty.”

“Poppa’s mad,” AJ said. He laid his head on John’s shoulder. “I just wanted to watch.”

“You should have asked,” John replied. 

“Are you mad too, Daddy?” AJ asked, and then burst into tears.

It was all over after that. John, who could stare a Wraith in the eye and never falter, was completely undone by his son’s tears. He shot Rodney a stricken look and set about comforting AJ.

Rodney knew they’d have to sit down and have another long talk with AJ about safety and rules and the consequences for ignoring both. And Rodney was going to find out why his son’s wristband, which had been created to keep him out of restricted areas, had failed. Maybe whoever had told him about the tests had deactivated it somehow, though that seemed highly unlikely considering the failsafes Rodney had put into place.

“I won’t do it ever again, I promise! I didn’t want something bad to happen.”

“I know you didn’t, buddy,” John said. 

The tears were real, and the remorse sincere, but part of Rodney couldn’t help feeling that he and John had just been smoothly manipulated by a five-year-old, one who seemed bent on keeping a secret. Rodney was confident he’d figure it out before too long, though. AJ was young, and he wouldn’t be able to help but reveal who had told him about Cadman’s experiments, and then Rodney would know who to unleash his fury on.

In the meantime…

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. And then we’ll go to the infirmary so you can apologize to Lt. Cadman.”

“Yes, Poppa,” AJ said. He clung to John’s neck, his head mostly tucked against John’s shirt. “Do you still love me?”

John’s arms tightened around AJ, and Rodney dropped a kiss on his head.

“Of course I do. We both do. Nothing would ever make us not love you, even if we get mad sometimes.”

“’cause I’m your son?”

“That’s right, buddy,” John said. “What do I always say?”

“Got your six.”

“Right again. But you have to have Poppa’s six, too. And mine. And that means staying out of places where you could get hurt, okay?”

AJ nodded, bumping John’s chin with his head.

Rodney trailed along behind them as they headed to the transporter, and wondered how he was ever going to survive fatherhood.


End file.
